5 Tips for Organizing Your Digital Life

It’s easy to let your digital life get out of control. Files pile up, you constantly install new apps, and it’s a hassle to keep track of all those account logins. We know organizing is a daunting task, but you don’t have to do it all at once. Why not check off one thing a day in the list below? Your digital life will be in great shape after only a week!

Benefits of Organizing

Saves you time and possibly money

Increases online security

Gives you peace of mind

Here are some ideas for how to get started.

1. Delete Unused Apps

If you have apps you only used once, or lost interest in, take a few minutes to delete them. It will free up space on your device and possibly even make it faster. More importantly, once you uninstall an app, it no longer gathers your data. Therefore, you reduce the risk of a data breach affecting you.

Alternatively, if you don’t wish to get rid of apps, group them in folders for easy access.

Don’t forget to do this on your Mac or PC, as well. (If you need instructions for this, look to techlicious.)

2. Put Your Finances in one Place

You probably have more than bank account or credit card. Rather than going to their individual websites to see your account, why not see them all at once, with a service like Mint.com? You can sort and filter your transactions to your heart’s content, create budgets, and track your spending and credit score.

Benefits: Quick overview, notifications, time savings.

3. Clean Your Computer and Browser

Does your browser take a long time to start up? It might be slow because using the internet accumulates files, and there might be browser extensions you forgot about. You could clean your cache and download folders manually, or just use a free program like CCleaner to tidy up your system. It removes extraneous software and browser data, which in turn reduces your online vulnerability. If you’re also worried about malware, check out the free tools recommended by the National Cyber Security Alliance.

Benefits: Speeds up your device, increases security.

4. Consolidate Passwords

You’ve probably heard that you’re not supposed to use the same password for different accounts, because it makes you an easy target for hackers. On the other hand, nobody can seriously be expected to remember a different login for every site they use. What’s worse, letting your browser save passwords is a security risk, too. LastPass to the rescue! It’s a password manager (and one browser extension we do recommend you keep 😉) where you only have to remember one master password. Nice!

Benefits: Increased security, less frustration.

5. Organize Your Retirement

Managing a retirement account is a lot of work. You can have professionals do it for you at blooom, for only $10/month! See all your retirement accounts in once place, and let the pros worry about rebalancing and trying to get you a great expense ratio. Additionally, every blooom member has unlimited access to Financial Advisors – in case you need help organizing more than just your 401k.